本帖最后由 woikuraki 于 2013-1-21 10:36 编辑
【原帖地址】：http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-us-mali-20130119,0,1649925.story?page=1
【原文标题】：Mali conflict exposes White House-Pentagon split
【译者】MacTavish_Tang
【翻译方式】人工
【声明】欢迎转载，请务必注明译者和出处 bbs.m4.cn。
【译文】：
【这张用手机拍摄的照片展示了在马里沙漠的武装运输车队。法国对马里的军事干预和在阿尔及利亚发生的恐怖袭击在华盛顿引发了关于是否应就此做出事反应的争论。】
随着马里地区冲突的不断升级，白宫与五角大楼也开始就该地区伊斯兰激进组织的威胁产生分歧。这些在马里地区造成动荡的组织被认为与基地组织有藕断丝连的关系。
尽管没人表示马里的激进组织对美国构成了紧迫的威胁，但是法国对马里的军事干预和在阿尔及利亚发生的恐怖袭击还是引起了奥巴马政府内部尖锐的讨论，白宫和五角大楼关于马里的激进组织对美国或美国盟友的威胁是否已经到了需要美国动用武力干涉的地步并没有统一的见解。
一些五角大楼和军队的军事官员警告称，如若美国不采取更加主动的干涉行动，马里很有可能变成极端主义者的天堂，一如911之前的阿富汗。
非洲司令部的陆军上将Carter Ham在近日的记者招待会上声称，如果任由马里的武装分子为所欲为，他们将会发展壮大并最终有能力威胁到美国的利益。
然而许多奥巴马的高级助理却并不这么认为，他们认为现在对马里发生的动乱定性还为时过早，尽管这其中有基地组织在北非的分支，马格里布（AQIM）参与。
这些助理同时对武装干涉马里的前景忧心忡忡，如果美国参与其中，最终很可能重蹈阿富汗战争的覆辙——深陷游击战争泥潭。
一位不愿意透露姓名的政府官员在内部会议上表示：没人质疑马格里布（AQIM）是个地区隐患，但是我们需要关心的是马格里布（AQIM）是否对美国的国土安全构成了威胁？目前看来答案是否定的。另一位定期在会议上报告的官员认为，此类激进组织的目标往往难以捉摸。他表示，马格里布（AQIM）等组织各色人等都有，投机犯罪分子、走私犯夹杂其中，但是组织中也有野心勃勃的死忠分子。
这次内部讨论会议的结果是美国暂缓向法国提供援助的原因之一。在此之前，法国已于上周向马里空降了100多名士兵，并发动了多轮空袭以阻止激进组织武装从其据点向马里首都巴马科推进。
据五角大楼发言人，Robert Firman少校表示，美国空军在未来几天将动用C-17战略运输机为法国空运更多的士兵和设备。与此同时，军方参谋也在研究巴马科附近的机场能否供C-17战略运输机起降。如果该套方案行不通的话，飞机将会在别处降落，而后法军将乘坐战术运输机进入马里。法方官员已经向美国提出请求，要求美国协助其运输一个装甲步兵营的士兵，约五六百人以及他们的装备。此外，美国还向法国提供关于激进组织的各种情报。
不过，奥巴马政府对法方请求给予法方战斗机空中加油的请求仍踯躅不定，因为白宫方面并不想直接参与到法国人的行动中去。美国已经排除了派遣地面部队的可能，仅给与法国有限度的支持。
前英国外交官，现任美国反恐协调专员的Richard Barrett分析称：我认为美国在马里问题上的谨慎是十分合理的。考虑到美军之前曾经与伊斯兰武装分子的战斗，为什么我们要自找麻烦再陷入一个泥潭呢？
自2001年以来，华盛顿方面曾试图平息马里逐渐抬头的伊斯兰极端势力，由美国牵头倡议成立了一个囊括扶贫和强军的计划。但是自去年3月马里发生军事政变以来，美国便停止了对马里的援助。
Ham将军几个月来一直警告称，马格里布（AQIM）正在发展壮大，并意图在该地区和其他地方制造恐怖袭击。关于如何与这些激进组织斗争，一些官员倾向于多管齐下，包括加强与当地政府的合作以及促进情报收集和运用特种作战。但另外一些官员依然质疑马里是否值得美国投入更多的关注。
国务院非洲司长官Johnnie Carson于去年6月通告议会，马格里布（AQIM）既没有能力在西非或北非威胁美国在当地的利益，也没有能力对美国本土发动袭击。
对于正在进行的马里冲突，美国白宫方面与五角大楼方面各执一词。政府官员不认为西非的伊斯兰武装分子构成了威胁，而军方则警告称必要的武装干涉势在必行。
去年9月11日美驻班加西领馆遭袭的事件为政府与军方提供了说辞。美国情报人员认为，虽然马格里布成员参与了此次事件，但是没有证据表明袭击是由马格里布指挥策划的。
去年马格里布和相关组织，包括西非统一和圣战组织（法语缩写为MUJAO）以柏柏尔族人叛乱为契机，统一了马里北部地区。
美国官方人员声称，这些伊斯兰组织已经建立了面积相当于德克萨斯州的训练营，用以招募来自非洲和欧洲的战斗人员。此外，马里的组织强化了与非洲其他激进组织的联络。
一个美国情报官员认为，马里的激进组织由于人员有限以及缺乏相关的专业知识，迫使他们不得不以守住现有势力范围为主要目标。但这位情报官员同时认为，随着激进组织的扩张，它们将会对该地区的国家产生威胁。
在谈及外国战斗人员的影响时，该官员认为“他们教授当地人员战斗经验。他们可能会在未来某个时刻离开马里回国，但这将给他们的母国带来隐患。”
美国前驻尼日利亚大使，现供职于对外关系委员会的John Campbell分析认为，“对我而言，这些激进组织与伊斯兰或基地组织风马牛不相及，从根本上而言就是一个以绑架和走私为生的犯罪网络。”
法国方面则认为，他们目前对于马里的干涉不过是权宜之计，要想从根本解决该地区的动荡局面需要大约3300人的非盟士兵来训练马里的政府军，并辅助其夺回被占领的区域。联合国于去年12月批准了向马里派驻维和部队的行动，本星期维和部队正式进驻马里。然而，非洲国家的政府官员表示，真正开始维和行动可能需要几个月的准备时间以及更多的军队。
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【原文】
WASHINGTON — The widening war in Mali has opened divisions between the White House and the Pentagon over the danger posed by a mix of Islamist militant groups, some with murky ties to Al Qaeda, that are creating havoc in West Africa. Although no one is suggesting that the groups pose an imminent threat to the United States, the French military intervention in Mali and a terrorist attack against an international gas complex in neighboring Algeria have prompted sharp Obama administration debate over whether the militants present enough of a risk to U.S. allies or interests to warrant a military response. Some top Pentagon officials and military officers warn that without more aggressive U.S. action, Mali could become a haven for extremists, akin to Afghanistan before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Militants in Mali, "if left unaddressed, ... will obtain capability to match their intent — that being to extend their reach and control and to attack American interests," Army Gen. Carter Ham, head of the U.S. Africa Command, said in an interview. But many of Obama's top aides say it is unclear whether the Mali insurgents, who include members of the group Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, or AQIM, threaten the U.S. Those aides also worry about being drawn into a messy and possibly long-running conflict against an elusive enemy in Mali, a vast landlocked country abutting the Sahara desert, just as U.S. forces are withdrawing from Afghanistan. "No one here is questioning the threat that AQIM poses regionally," said an administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity when discussing internal deliberations. "The question we all need to ask is, what threat do they pose to the U.S. homeland? The answer so far has been none." Another U.S. official, who is regularly briefed on such intelligence, said the groups' goals were often hard to distinguish. "AQIM and its allies have opportunistic criminals and smugglers in their midst, but they also have some die-hard terrorists with more grandiose visions," the official said. "In some cases, the roles may overlap." The internal debate is one reason for a delay in U.S. support for the French, who airlifted hundreds of troops into Mali last weekend and launched airstrikes in an effort to halt the militants from pushing out of their northern stronghold toward Bamako, the Malian capital. The Pentagon is planning to begin ferrying additional French troops and equipment to Mali in coming days aboard U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo jets, according to Air Force Maj. Robert Firman, a Pentagon spokesman. Military planners are still studying the airport runways in Bamako to determine whether they can handle the huge C-17s. If not, they will land elsewhere and the French troops will be flown into Mali on smaller aircraft. French officials have asked the U.S. to transport an armored infantry battalion of 500 to 600 soldiers, plus vehicles and other equipment. The U.S. is also providing France with surveillance and other intelligence on the militants. But the administration has so far balked at a French request for tanker aircraft to provide in-air refueling of French fighter jets because the White House does not yet want to get directly involved in supporting French combat operations, officials said. U.S. officials have ruled out putting troops on the ground, except in small numbers and only to support the French. "I think the U.S. ambivalence about moving into Mali is very understandable," said Richard Barrett, a former British diplomat who serves as United Nations counter-terrorism coordinator. Noting the instances where U.S. forces have been drawn into conflict with Islamic militants, he said, "Why would they want another one, for God's sake? It's such a difficult area to operate in." After 2001, Washington tried to tamp down Islamic extremism in Mali under a counter-terrorism initiative that combined anti-poverty programs with training for the military. The U.S. aid was halted, however, when military officers overthrew the government last March in a violent coup. Gen. Ham has warned for months that AQIM was growing stronger and intended to carry out attacks in the region and elsewhere. To combat the threat, some officers favor building closer ties with governments in the region and boosting intelligence-gathering and special operations. But other administration officials question the need for a bigger U.S. effort. Johnnie Carson, who heads the Africa bureau at the State Department, told Congress in June that AQIM "has not demonstrated the capability to threaten U.S. interests outside of West or North Africa, and it has not threatened to attack the U.S. homeland." The September attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, has provided fodder for both sides: AQIM members participated, U.S. intelligence officials have said, but the U.S. has found no evidence the attack was ordered or planned by AQIM.A rebellion last year by ethnic Tuareg in northern Mali paved the way for AQIM and allied groups, including the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa, known by its French acronym MUJAO, to seize Mali's northern half.U.S. officials say the Islamist groups have used the Texas-sized area to establish training camps, recruit fighters from African and European nations, including France, and strengthen ties with other African extremist groups.A U.S. intelligence official said the militant groups' "limited people and expertise" require them to focus most of their effort on holding the territory they've seized. But over time, the official said, the groups' growth could threaten other nations in the region."They have to train these guys, provide these guys with skills," the official said, referring to foreign recruits. "At some point down the road, they will probably go back home, and that increases the threat in those home countries."The militant groups "all appear to me to be essentially criminal networks based on kidnapping and smuggling … having little to do with Islam or with the remnants of Al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan," said John Campbell, a former U.S. ambassador to Nigeria now at the Council on Foreign Relations.French officials have depicted their intervention as a stop-gap move until an African military force of 3,300 is ready to train the Malian army and help it recapture territory from the rebels. The United Nations endorsed the mission in December, and the first soldiers arrived in Mali this week, but African officials have said it could take several months or the forces to begin operations.
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